Warriors reach second round of girls lacrosse playoffs

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Last year Fallbrook High School’s girls lacrosse team reached the CIF playoffs for the first time in the program’s history, although the Warriors lost in the first round. This year Fallbrook reached the second round of the CIF playoffs.

“We had a good run at it,” said Fallbrook coach Debbie Berg.

The two playoff games gave Fallbrook an overall season record of 17-4. “Very happy,” Berg said. “It went well.”

Fallbrook’s Valley League record was 4-2, which placed the Warriors second in the standings. Sage Creek won all six of the Bobcats’ Valley League games, including a 9-6 match April 19 in Fallbrook. The Warriors followed that loss with a 10-7 defeat April 22 at El Camino but then closed out league and regular-season play with a 14-5 victory April 29 at Ramona, a 12-2 home triumph May 3 against Rancho Buena Vista, and a 14-1 win May 6 at Vista.

The May 7 CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting gave Fallbrook the seventh seed in the Division II playoffs. Point Loma had the 10th seed, so the Pointers traveled to Fallbrook for the first-round playoff game May 11.

“We played well against Point Loma in the first round,” Berg said.

The 6-4 victory gave Fallbrook 17 wins for the season, which was the most for any team in the CIF San Diego Section this year. Scripps Ranch, which reached the final of the Open Division playoffs, also had a 17-4 overall record.

Defeating Point Loma advanced Fallbrook to the Division II quarterfinals. “Sage Creek was the number two seed, so they were very likely in the running to win it all,” Berg said. “We just happened to have to play them in the second round. They’re a very talented team.”

The April 19 loss to Sage Creek broke a 10-game Fallbrook winning streak as well as decided the league championship. “They took us out of the CIF playoffs as well,” Berg said.

Fallbrook wasn’t necessarily the team the Warriors were earlier in the season. “We had some injuries,” Berg said.

Two of those injuries were to key players. “One was completely out, one was playing injured throughout the whole rest of the season,” Berg said.

Bella Lopez was unable to play. “My top scorer was out for the last 10 games of the season,” Berg said. “We lost a key player for the rest of the year.”

Cassie Ramirez was injured on more than one occasion during the season. “She played through a lot of the pain, but it definitely did affect her,” Berg said.

Sage Creek won the playoff game by a 14-5 score. Last year, Fallbrook and Sage Creek faced each other in the first round of the Division II playoffs, and the Bobcats prevailed by a 20-4 margin. The 2021 Warriors finished with a 5-8 overall record including a 3-3 Valley League mark.

The 2022 Warriors had six seniors, so Berg will have to replace those players. “I have a number of girls who are playing club over the summer,” she said.